Progeny Software

DevTrack Used to Track Software Development.

Progeny Software, Inc. is a privately held genealogy publishing and software development company. Started in 1994 by principal owners and partners Pierre Cloutier and Bob Thomas, Progeny’s focus is to publish useful, high quality, and easy-to-use software tools and content for computer genealogists. Headquartered in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (Canada), Progeny markets their products worldwide.

“DevTrack helps us make our deadlines and focus our resources. I would say we are anywhere from 25 to 40 percent more productive using DevTrack, which is very significant. When you realize that a difference of three or four percent is the difference between profit and loss, 30 percent is really significant.”

Pierre Cloutier – Partner

Progeny Software Selects DevTrack

“DevTrack has really streamlined our software development,” said Pierre Cloutier, Partner. “We’d be hard-pressed to operate without it.” Progeny evaluated several products before setting on DevTrack for its ease-of-use and extensive feature set.

“DevTrack helps us make our deadlines and focus our resources,” continued Cloutier. “I would say we are anywhere from 25 to 40 percent more productive using DevTrack, which is very significant. When you realize that a difference of three or four percent is the difference between profit and loss, 30 percent is really significant.”

Progeny originally used DevTrack with Microsoft’s Access database, but upgraded to Sybase SQL Anywhere for a heartier DBMS. Software development, quality assurance and management have all implemented DevTrack.

DevTrack in Action

“It is really a tremendous value – it offloads the process from just one or two individuals to the whole organization,” said Cloutier. “Everyone can put in his or her own two cents. It is a modem cliché, but it really empowers people – everyone can see where we stand – do we have 40 bugs left or 30 bugs left? It acts as a thermometer. Everyone can contribute to the whole process and we can all work together to set priorities. Where do we stand, and how much work is required to reach our goal?”

“Before DevTrack we used paper-based system to track bugs and issues. Now, we can ‘put stuff away’ in DevTrack and it is always there, forever.”